Spaceships 101 – An Intro Guide to Ships in SWTOR

Submitted by jeffprime on Wed, 12/07/2011 - 16:55

Spaceships are an integral part of Star Wars, therefore, they are naturally a key component in The Old Republic. Every character eventually gets their own ship, allowing them to gallivant around the galaxy, have a place of refuge, and indulge in some good old-fashioned space combat. With that said, here are the basics of spaceships in The Old Republic that every player should know.

Getting Your Ship

Every character receives their spaceship when they finish their class quests upon the second planet they go to. This will be Dromund Kaas for Sith Empire players or Coruscant for Republic players. The level range for your character when you receive your ship will be from 14-17 depending on how quickly you advance through your class quests.

Viewing Your Ship

You can view your ship info by opening up your character screen (C) and clicking on the brand new Ship tab. Here you will see your ship stats and how your ship is currently equipped. As you can see, you’ll be able to equip your ship like your character or companions and you will upgrade your ship’s equipment as you level.

Note: All player ships, regardless of class, name, or layout, are essentially the same. They all have the same basic stats and provide the same basic functions.

Overall, there are 10 slots that you can equip on your ship and upgrade. You can purchase ship equipment from vendors on capital planets or receive them as mission rewards. The 10 equip able slots are:

EMP Generator

ElectronicWarfare Pod

Ship Armor

Energy Shield

Shield Regenerator

Beam Charger

Beam Generator

Missile Magazine

Proton Torpedoes

Power Conversion Module

These ship upgrades are used for space combat and are not important now.

New Companion

When you receive your new ship, you also get a new companion – your ship’s droid. This droid companion is totally non-combat, but you can use him for other companion activities such as crew skill missions and crafting missions. You can view your new robotic buddy by opening up your character screen (C) and clicking on the Companion tab.

Another companion aspect of your ship is that new conversations will open up with your companions only onboard the ship. Your companions will man certain areas of your ship so make sure that you check them out regularly to see if they have a quest icon above them.

Ship Functions

Every character’s ship has the same areas that allow you access the features of your ship from communication to galactic travel to storage to companion conversations. The items on your ship that allow you to do these functions are:

Cargo Hold
This serves as your character’s bank. Here you can store crafting items or pieces of equipment to be used later on.

Intercom
The ship’s intercom isn’t used all that often, but certain missions will require you to use it. The main function of the intercom is sort of a crew debriefing.

Holoterminal
The holoterminal is used with your class quests. As you first reach each planet that your class quest actively sends you to, you’ll use it to speak with your primary point of contact to get more details on what you’ll be doing on that planet. If you’ve been questing planet-side with a local point of contact, finishing your class quests on the planet may end up with a quest phase telling you to use the holoterminal on your ship as the next step in the chain.

Galaxy Map
The galaxy map is what you’ll use to travel from system to system and planet to planet. You access the galaxy map in your cockpit which will bring up a map of the galaxy. From there, you select the destination you wish to go to (be it planet or space combat), and if you have enough credits to pay for the fuel, you’ll hit hyperspace and go there.

Tip: As a recently added feature, an alternative method of opening the galaxy map is to right click on one of the seats on your bridge. Doing so will allow your character to sit in the selected position, immediately opening the galaxy map in the process. While a minor thing, it does add another layer of immersion for players looking to interact with their ship in different ways.

Fleet Command
Located closely to the galaxy map in the cockpit, the fleet command item gives you various space combat missions to do. To get to the space combat missions, you will use the galaxy map. Once you have done the space combat missions, they can become daily missions that you can retake to earn bonus XP and fleet commendations.

Ship Exit
The ship exit allows you to leave your ship and enter the spaceport of whichever planet you are currently on.

Escape Pod
The escape pod was used in earlier beta builds as a way for your character to travel from your ship to the planet you were currently associated with. At the end of beta, it had no function.

There you have it, my friends, the basics of spaceships in The Old Republic. Primarily you’ll be using your ship for travel (galaxy map), space combat (fleet command and galaxy map), storage, and class quest information. Also make sure to keep an eye on your companions to see if any new conversations open up. You may be able to improve your favor and get lucky!